Maidenform Brands Earnings Preview

While Maidenform Brands (NYS: MFB) missed estimates last quarter, investors hope that it will bounce back and outpace Wall Street expectations this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday. Maidenform Brands is a global intimate apparel company.

What analysts say:

Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Maidenform Brands with three of four analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Maidenform Brands as much as competitor Warnaco Group overall. Three out of nine analysts rate Warnaco Group a buy compared to one of four for Maidenform Brands. Analysts' rating of Maidenform Brands has stayed constant from three months prior.

Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $116.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 2% from the year-ago quarter.

Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.01 per share. Estimates range from breaking even to a profit of $0.03.

What our community says:CAPS All-Stars are enthusiastically backing the stock, with 96.9% giving it an outperform rating. Most of the community agrees with the All-Stars, with 94.2% awarding it a rating of outperform. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Maidenform Brands' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:Maidenform Brands' income has fallen year-over-year by an average of 7.1% over the past five quarters. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters. The company's gross margin shrank by 4.2 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 1.7% while cost of sales rose 8.4% to $100.8 million from a year earlier.

Now let's get some insight into how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The company's operating margins have been decreasing year-over-year for the last four quarters. Operating margins reflect the total sales revenue that the company retains after costs. Here are Maidenform Brands' reported margins for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

32.0%

34.8%

34.1%

35.0%

Operating Margin

10.7%

10.6%

14.4%

9.8%

Net Margin

6.9%

6.8%

8.9%

5.7%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Maidenform Brands movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your watchlist.